Growing Mountain Fire Forces Evacuations In Shasta County

SHASTA COUNTY (CBS SF) — Evacuations are underway Thursday afternoon due to a rapidly growing brush fire in Shasta County that has already consumed approximately 820 acres, according to authorities.

An aerial view of the Mountain Fire burning in Shasta County on August 22, 2019. (CAL FIRE Shasta Trinity Unit / Twitter)

The so-called Mountain Fire was first reported late Thursday morning in the area of Bear Mountain Road and Dry Creek Road north of Bella Vista. By 11:45 a.m., the Shasta County Sheriff’s Twitter account was posting evacuation information for the residents of Jones Valley and Bella Vista.

An evacuation center was initially set up at the Shasta College Gymnasium located at 11555 Old Oregon Trail in Redding, but has since been closed. The new evacuation center is at the Crosspointe Community Church located at 2960 Hartnell Road in Redding.

As of about 1:20 p.m., the fire had grown to 300 acres. By about 2 p.m., it had grown to 600 acres.